Phoenix-verse Asides
by dark habit
Summary: A collection of ideas, tangents and side-stories that pertain to the AU of Phoenix Rose and its related works. Collaborative effort of myself, Phoenix Commander, Dantai, and ColdPlayfan12.
1. File Thief

**DH: Hey everybody! Dark habit here again.**

 **This requires some backstory. As I have planned Dressed in DRAB, I came with ideas that were either pure crack for either it or Phoenix Rose, or I couldn't figure out a proper place to fit in with its pacing. As such, I'm taking inspiration from Emergence (which you guys** ** _should_** **read if you haven't. F*cking awesome stuff.) *ahem*. The parts located within this story** ** _may not be cannon and will be disclaimed as such_** **.**

 **As well, other members of those involved with the Phoenix-verse (Team PHNX? Figure that out later.) may have their own asides to add to this. As such each chapter will** ** _have the author mentioned._**

 **Diclaimer: RWBY and its characters are owned by Rooster Teeth.**

 **Author: dark habit**

 **Status: Semi-cannon**

 **Time stamp: Sanctum Soldier;** **End of** **Y2C1: New Year, Same Games**

The File Thief

Jason's POV

 _If I get caught, it won't be good, but I need to know why he is so strong..._

Sure, that's the reason I tell myself, but part of me still doesn't trust Rex. I open the file.

 _What? Why is there black ink over his records?_

* * *

 **Dracul Rex (Formerly Dracul** **Vánagandr** **)**

 **Kingdom of Birth: Vacuo**

 **Kingdom of Residence: Vale**

 **Relations**

 **Father: Vladimir V** **ánagandr (Retired Vale Corp Hunter/Deceased)**

 **Mother:** **Vasilissa** **V** **ánagandr (Deceased)**

 **Stepfather: Gorlois Rex (Deceased)**

 **Stepmother: Igraine Rex (Deceased)**

 **Sibling(s): Morgana Rex (Stepsister/Missing)**

* * *

 _Vánagandr... So that is his birth name?_

* * *

 **Psyche** **Profile**

 **Of concerning stability. Standard analysis methods were quickly dismissed as he pointed out that since he knew they were testing him, he could fix his answers to whatever results we wanted. A more formal therapy session ensued.**

 **Multiple subjects designed to cause emotional stimuli made no impression on him. Was placed on a watch to confirm potential sociopathic or apathetic mindsets.**

 **Watch ended when _[redacted]_. When Subject was exposed to subjects pertaining to Morgana or _[redacted]_ he displayed rapid flashes of negative emotions and quickly steered the topic away. Repeated attempts were met with verbal hostility, later physical methods and _[redacted]._**

 **Analysis of his goals, pertaining to _[redacted]_ , Subject spoke with incredibly fatalistic tones. Sensing our concern, he quickly dismissed ideas of suicide, direct or by proxy. He affirms he has no desire to die, and simply accepts it. This combined with _[redacted]_ has him labeled for potential of a martyr complex.**

* * *

 _Given his hatred of the White Fang, I can believe that._

* * *

 **Abilities**

 **Dracul has showcased proficiency** **with an bastardized mixture of sword and unarmed combat. When tested, he watches his opponent and often launches threats or scathing comments. When attacked, he quickly blocks and counters with reflexes that challenge all but the fastest opponents. Limited Aura manipulation skills.**

 _ **note: fighting style draws vaugue similarities to members of**_ **[redacted]. _Potential trainers?_**

 **Dracul is able to read people with unnerving accuracy after mere minutes of contact. By the end of his session, he analyzed his interviewer, pouncing upon her insecurities. She later stated that Dracul had come up to them later and apologized for his actions and affirmed she was a good person. This was further tested and similar results were reported by five other members of the staff.**

* * *

I skim through his personal history but most of it was stuff Rex has already stated or implied, or it was blacked out to the point of being incoherent. However, the end of the file links to two other documents.

The first was a recommendation by Qrow Fields. _He has a Hunter of that caliber vouching for him?_

The second led directly to Azure's file. I was about to leave when I saw that the near eternity of her file was hidden.

* * *

 **Azure Raptor (Formally Azure ?)**

 **Kingdom of Birth: Vacuo**

 **Kingdom of Residence: None**

 _ **Relations** **Unknown**_

* * *

 **Psyche** **Profile**

 **Subject showcases heavy distrust of authority figures. When brought to the interviews, she insisted on sitting a far distance away from the examiner, with her back to the wall and eyes on the door. When interviewer drew close, Subject _[redacted]._ Subject to be disarmed and searched for later sessions.**

 **Subject was confrontational from the start, and would often refuse to perform the tests.**

 **Trust issues apparently extend to all people.** **Subject compared most people to monsters and remarked 'At least the Grimm are honest about going for your throat." Past emotional trauma presumed, but Subject won't confirm or deny.**

* * *

 _Azure..._

* * *

 **Abilities**

 **Despite her slightly smaller size, Azure showcases incredible fitness. Speed and Agility tests place her in the 94th percentile of applicants, excluding those with Speed Semblances. Lacks much proficiency with weapons, relying on ingenuity and unusual tactics.**

 ** _note: Came with locked Aura, awakened by examiner._**

 **Azure has high-rating spacial awareness. When challenged on a test designed to be misleading, she predicted and avoided the trap. Recall is also far ahead of the curve, though not eidetic.**

 **Apparently trained in deception. When pressed, Azure altered her voice multiple times, holding entire conversations without breaking tone, even when using 'male' voices. Also demonstrated enhanced disguise abilities, including near-perfect duplication of interviewer's appearance, height and clothing being the only tells. Capable of telling obvious lies with only minor raises in blood pressure and pulse rate.**

* * *

The vast majority of her history was hidden to the point I question why it was even included, although a note was stated that she was a 'ghost of the system', meaning there are no files on her before coming to the Hunters, not even a birth certificate. Given she's stated she's lived her life as a 'nonperson' and she didn't officially exist, it wouldn't surprise me.

There were three files linked to her. The first was another recommendation by Qrow. The second linked back to Rex. The third however...

* * *

 _ **This file has been ordered sealed by Colonel Monty Oum**_

* * *

...Left _too much_ to answer for.

 _What are they hiding and why does it involve Azure?_

* * *

 **DH: The reason this chapter didn't make it into the story was it both was unwieldy and didn't fit thematically.**

 **The names in Rex's profile:**

 **V** **ánagandr: another name for the infamous Fenrir, of Norse mythos. It makes a good 'Faunus' family name.**

 **Vladimir and** **Vasilissa: These come from the multiple 'Dracula' jokes me and the Commander have made about Rex. Vasilissa was the second wife of Vlad II, or Vlad _Dracul_.**

 **Gorlois and** **Igraine: Morgana's name comes from the black witch Morgana le Fay. These two were her parents in the legends.**

 **The sealed file at the end was the criminal record for Azure before she joined the Hunter Corp.**

 **The next chapter of Sanctum Soldier is in the works, but I have an essay coming up, so it may take a while.**


	2. The Marriage of Wolf and Hawk

**DH: I needed to write something fluffy for a change... It happens.**

 **On a side note, Dantai has picked up the pen once more and is working on a RWBY collab called Cell 502. I've been teasing him on twitter about it, but I'm happy he's gotten back in the game. Give him your support  
**

 **Author: Dark Habit**

 **Status: Non-canon**

 **Timestamp: 5 years post-Beacon graduation**

 **The Marriage of Wolf and Hawk**

Azure's POV

"Are you sure you don't want to wear white?"

 _Morgana, you may be my fiance's little sister, but I do have a limit._ I was looking for a wedding dress along with Haley and Morgana, but if anything, they undersell just how hard it was to find the _one_.

"The white dress at a wedding is meant to state the bride is pure. Need I remind you that I am not _pure_ in any sense of the word?"

Morgana blushes when she gets what I implied. "Please don't talk about what you do with Dracul behind close doors."

I smirk. "Oh, we do plenty when not behind close doors. Can I talk about those? There was that one time I borrowed Blake's weapon..." Morgana goes a shade of red I didn't think was physically possible.

Fortunately, Haley finally intervenes. "Please stop mentally scarring your future sister-in-law. I'm just glad that Rex finally proposed to you. you two have been married in all but name since we were still students."

I roll my eyes. "I get it, we wouldn't admit it for ages. Still, that just leaves Jason as the last of our team to marry. I think Velvet's been taking notes." _I know she's getting tired of him dragging his feet._

"You never told us, how exactly did he propose?"

I laugh. "You think it was a grand gesture? No, it was pretty simple. All that happened was-"

* * *

 _Another day, another crook behind bars and another paycheck in my pocket. Hm, its been a while. Maybe Dracul and I can find a lovely little restaurant to eat at._ After we started dating, I started calling him by his first name; something he only allows his me and his sister do.

I open the door to our apartment and was greeted by the smell of blood. "Extermination mission go wrong?"

Dracul walks in the room, still trying to wipe blood off his face with a wet cloth. "No, I just got too close to a certain hammer wielding berserker when she decided to, in her words, 'get the high score.'

"Nora always goes overboard."

Giving up on getting the blood off without a proper shower, he tosses the cloth into a bin to wash later. However, his body language shifts. _Is he getting nervous?_

He walks over to me. "I've been meaning to ask you something important. We've been together for a long time, and have been dating for years. I was hoping you'd be willing to take the next step with me." He pulls out a black box and drops onto one knee.

My heart starts speeding up. _No way, is he actually?_

He opens the box revealing a ring. "Azure Raptor, will you marry me?"

I feel like my heart is going to jump out of my chest. "Yes!" I rush forward to grab him and start kissing him.

 _Azure Rex. I think I could get used to the sound of that._

* * *

Haley was staring at me. "You're telling me he proposed to you while covered in Grimm blood?"

"I told you it wasn't going to be something grand."

Morgana starts to smile. "In a way, I can't imagine my brother doing something else. He was big on showing his love in the small ways. It was a moment for just the two of you. He would make it romantic with the act itself."

"And that's part of why I love him." All of a second my eye catches a certain dress. "What abut this one?" I hold it up in front of me.

The two take one look and reply in sync. "It's perfect."

* * *

I am freaking out. "I can't do this. Why couldn't we simply elope and be done with this? Therearegoingtobesomanypeopleandallthoseeyesonme-"

Haley grabs me. "Breathe Azure. You're about ready to pass out."

I try to stop hyperventilating. "How did you and Terra put up with this?"

"We were nervous too. Just remember the important questions. One: do you love Rex?"

"Of course I do."

"Two: do you want to spend your life with him?"

"More than anything."

She gives a gentle smile. "Then you will be fine."

"A- _hem._ "

We turn around to see Qrow standing at the door. "Ladies, we do need to leave in the next ten minutes unless you want to be late."

I direct my thoughts towards him. _Do you realize just stressful this day is?_

He winks. _Asshole._ _Why did I ask you to be the one to give me away again? Oh, right. My other option was Thamior..._

* * *

Rex's POV _  
_

"How nervous are you, Rex? You're tensing up really badly."

 _He finds this hilarious._ "Jason, when it is your turn, remember I will repay in full what you do to me today. This is more terrifying than any battle will ever be."

"Well, do your damn meditation trick and calm down. Everyone besides you two have been waiting years for today and there is no way I'm letting you escape this by passing out."

"There will be no mer-" Suddenly the doors open and everything stops for me a I see Azure walk in.

Azure was wearing a deep blue wedding dress. The bottom was abridged, so it only came a few inches below her knee. A golden wolf was embroidered over her heart. Overall the dress looked simple, but she radiated beauty wearing it.

She changed up her hair as well. She dyed two streaks into it; one gold, one blue. They were braided together and hung over her shoulder.

However, everything paled in comparison to the smile on her face.

Snapping back to reality, I hear the music playing as she walks down the to altar, flanked by Haley.

A soon as she is standing in front of me, I direct my thought to her. ( _You look stunning._ ) Her smile only widened.

We stand there as the priest goes through the ceremony. Eventually the time come to say our vows.

I turn to face Azure. "Azure, you have saved me from the pit of my despair. I promise to make your life happy no matter what. When you need me, I will always be at your side. My love for you will never disappear."

Azure smiles and responds. "Dracul, our love for each other is the greatest treasure I will ever have. I will always be faithful to you and stay with you beyond this life into the next."

"By the powers vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss-" The priest stumbles when Azure rushes to kiss me. "... the husband?"

The two of us were silently laughing at his reaction to Azure ignoring tradition.

* * *

Azure's POV

After we retreated to the reception afterwards, everyone started celebrating with the sheer ridiculousness only Hunters could pull off. Haley's twin dragons were flying around, Nora was being, well, Nora, Ruby was figuratively everywhere, Blake was _literally_ everywhere, Weiss had conjured several full sized ice sculptures of everyone, and somebody, I _think_ it was Yang, set the curtains on fire. That was the first _hour._ Morgana was having the time of her life, though.

I mutter to Dracul. "We shouldn't have provided alcohol." Dracul pauses to look at his wineglass, which he had yet to touch. ( _They probably would have brought it themselves._ )

Thankfully the chaos had lulled to a stop. Well, not stopped, but it was manageable for sanity. That was when Jason stood up and cleared his throat, catching just about everyone's attention. "I would like to give a few words about our man of the hour here."

Several of the people in the audience, including Thamior, start chanting, "speech, speech, speech!"

Jason smiles. "I'll admit, when I first met Rex, I thought he was an asshole." People start chuckling, as Dracul's personality definitely takes getting used to. "Well, after getting to know him over the course of the last decade, I can firmly state- I was _right_." Laughter breaks out, and Dracul smiles.

"In all seriousness, once you move past his habit of getting you mad, he is a great friend. To me, he became a brother that I had never realized I had wished for. If you had a problem, he would make it _his_ problem.

"There were some times I wished he didn't though. When I started developing a crush on Velvet for instance." Yang makes a catscall and Velvet nervously waves at the attention, sparking a new round of laughter. "Yeah, his eventual idea to help me was to throw me headfirst into the situation. Not a metaphor, he actually tossed me into Velvet!"

Dracul raises a finger. "First, do not deny you enjoyed the free skip to second base." More laughter. "Second, _Azure's_ plan was to handcuff the two of you together in a locked room... with aphrodisiacs. Third, I was tired of watching you two dance around the issue, and yes, I am aware of the irony."

After that, it took a few seconds before the laughter quieted down enough for Jason to continue. "Speaking of that irony, how were you oblivious enough to not realize that this girl who was perfect for you in every way was pining for you?" I immediately flip off Jason, prompting more chuckles. "Proving my point right there. It took way too much before you finally wised up to that situation. Though you continued to be so slow in moving through the steps. I honestly expected to hear you had a kid on the way before you the day you two walked down the aisle. On that note; Yang, I'll pay you tomorrow." Once more everyone starts to laugh.

Jason raises his wineglass, with everyone following suit. "So here's to you on your wedding day, Rex. You are quite the son of a bitch in every meaning!" A large round of cheers and applause followed.

Eventually, things calmed down enough, and music started to play. Dracul and I take the floor, and the two of us dance for the first time as a married couple. I end up placing my head on his chest and listen to his heart beat. "This is absolutely perfect." I hear a loud crash and look over to see Nora laying on what used to be an ice statue of team DRAB. "Nora!"

"Thamior tossed me!"

 _Still worth it._ Dracul raises his hand to my chin and lifts my head. "Of course it is. Its _our_ day." He leans in and kisses me.

* * *

 **AN: Hope everyone enjoyed that.**

 **Writing the vows _sucked._ I could have released this _last Wednesday_ if it wasn't the fact I couldn't find the right way to express their love for each other. I am still not truly satisfied with them, but I don't think I can do better.**

 **Perhaps its fitting this way... to quote from _Traitor_ by Matthew Stover, ** " **Those are only words. They are half-truths. Less. They are lies. The truth is always greater than the words we use to describe it."**

 **Funny story, I actually looked up wedding dress designs in public when making Azure's and my friends gave me the weirdest looks when they saw my laptop screen.**


	3. The Progidal Father

**DH: *Fanfare* It is my great pleasure to present the first chapter of the Asides _not_ written by me, which was the major purpose of starting them. **

Author Dantai

Status: non-canon

TimeStamp: 6.5 years post beacon

The prodigal father.

It had been about a year and a half since Rex and Azura had gotten married and only a few months after Jason and Velvet had tied the knot and he was now contently laying in his bed with wife sound asleep on his chest. Looking up to the ceiling he was deep in thought about how much his life had changed, from him and his 'uncle' traveling around Remnant living job to job with no loved ones, to him with many friends and a beautiful wife, but for him there would always be **one** constant his father or lack thereof. Ever since he could remember all he had in the way of parental figures were his mom, who he barely remembered, Viride, and his uncle Rotwel. Viride was still in Trygghavena village with Hvitt but would call him often as if she were his mother, and for all intents and purposes he saw her as one, and Rotwel was off on an expedition to god knows where. Before he could delve deeper into his thoughts of his family a series of beeps brought him out of his thoughts. Looking to his left he saw that his scroll had lit up so he silently activated his semblance.

' _Libri, what is the alert?'_ he asked his scroll telepathically wondering what on remnant would set off an alert at this hour.

' _There is one new E-mail from a previously unknown address'_ Libri responded which caused Jason to falter. The only time he got an email was when some company was trying to get him to buy something or give him cupons. He looked down to Velvet he made sure she was still sleeping and quietly slid out of the bed. Looking back he saw her sleepily mumble some form of discontent before she quieted down and fell to the deeper parts of her rem sleep cycle. Chuckling to himself at his wife's antics he quickly pocketed his scroll and he fastened his cloak before he quietly walked out to the living area of their moderately sized apartment. Once he had quietly closed the door to the bedroom he looked over the living room and smiled to himself. In the room a medium sized couch was present along with two two person chairs, a small, wood and glass coffee table and a large tv were present. Shaking his head he plopped down onto the couch and pulled out his scroll. Quickly he unlocked the scroll, opened his inbox and looked at the new message, and what he saw nearly floored him. The email address itself was unremarkable but the subject line was what surprised him so much. Under subject only two words were written. Two words, that to almost anyone else it would be a normal greeting but for Jason they were probably the biggest surprise ever. Checking to make sure it wasn't his mind playing a trick on him he saw infact that the word read, Hello Son. Slowly he opened the email and read it over.

Dear Jason,

Hello son, you may not know me but I am Obsisdire Breach your biological father. I am coming in contact with you now because for the past 18 years I have been looking for you and I was only recently able to find you. I know i haven't been there for you at all and I take full responsibility for this but I still deeply wish to at the very least wish to meet with you and talk with you about what I missed during your early life. I know you may not trust me as your a hunter but I know what might get you to do so. Your mother's name was Lila Faunce and I grew up in an all avian faunus village. Those two things are enough to get you to trust me I hope but just incase I will attach the last picture your mother sent me.

Sincerely Obsisdire Breach.

Jason read the message over and over out of sheer disbelief before he looked down to the very bottom of the message to see a picture of him when he turned eight years old with his mom and Viride and he soon remembers that the picture was take only a few days before his mother's death. This sent him into a spiral of emotions the first being sadness at seeing his mother again after so long, the next being joy at finally having a picture of his mom, the final being anger at his father for not trying to find him sooner. He knew however that the last emotion was erational but he disregarded that in favor of holding onto those emotions. In his moment of emotion however he didn't notice the door to the bedroom open for Velvet to walk out and look at Jason with a sad expression on her face as she went over and sat with her husband and wrapped her arms around him bringing him into a warm and caring embrace. As she held him she could feel his anger ebb away as he quickly returned the embrace and buried his head into her shoulder. After what seemed like hours of them just sitting there Velvet finally spoke.

"So… wanna tell me what this is about." she asked in her usual mousy tone.

"My father contacted me." he replied as he lifted his head to look at her.

"What are you going to do?" she asked in shock.

"As of right now I'm not sure." he replied downtrodden

"Well how about you sleep on it." she said as she stood up and pulled him to his feet as she walked to the bedroom.

* * *

After that night Jason mulled over meeting his father some real thought, even going so far as to ask Rex what he thought.

"Well, what do you think?" Jason asked after he finished explaining his tale to Rex.

"I think you're stupid for not taking this opportunity sooner." Rex said as he looked to Jason.

"What exactly do you mean?" he asked slightly confused.

"Look at it this way, none of us had ever had a real father figure I think you should at least meet his to know about his side of the family if nothing else. He said as he looked pointedly at Jason. With this said Jason milled the thought around some more before he gave Rex a massive shit eating grin.

"You're right thanks man." he said as he looked to his brother in all but blood. Quickly he took out his scroll and sent a repli to the email saying that he would like to meet with his father.

* * *

It was currently 12 in the afternoon and Jason was sat outside a local coffee shop waiting for his father to arrive. The seconds turned to minutes before a man that matched the description the email had given arrived and he smiled towards Jason. The man was about 6' 4" with brown hair and eyes dark brown hair and was well built. He had similar feature to Jason but the most noticeable feature was the black feathered wings he had that seemed to mirror Jason's own.

"Hello I'm Obsisdire Breach and I trust you're Jason." he said as he gave a kind smile

"Hello I'm Jason your son." he said as he stood and extended his hand. Obsisdire took the hand and shook it. Both men sat in their chairs and began to talk about their lives and their past. Finally however Obsisdire asked a question that caused Jason to falter.

"So how is your mother doing?" he asked with a well meaning tone.

"Well she died," he said with a gloomy look on his face. "Actually it was a few months after she sent you the last photo." he explained upon seeing his father's sad look.

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that." he said as his gaze fell to the floor.

"Don't worry about that it happened long ago." he said as he gave a sad smile before he switched topics. For many hours they talked and made up for lost time. Once the day had wound down Jason and Obsisdire exchanged numbers and left feeling better about having met the other.

* * *

Well my first side story and wow it was actually fun writing Jason so here is a father's day story written on father's day. Also the reason for it being Jason is because he is the only drab member that has a father that me, habit, and commander agree is still living just not present.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed the story if you did look at my profile for the two other rwby storied i have written or check out a collab I'm doing called Cell 502, which sparked a twitter fight between me and Habit. Anyway not that the fact I have no shame about self promotion has been made clear I must bid you adu thank you and Ta-ra

-Dantai

 **DH: abusing editor privilege here, but I just want to point out that I was merely teasing during the Twitter fight, and no disrespect was meant during it.**

 **Also, since people might wonder,** ** _Trygghavena_ means safe haven in nordic.**


	4. The Dragon-Tamer's Test

**AN: This was written as a present for CPF12. It's more high-fantasy, but I still think it falls under Phoenix-verse lines. That and I have no other idea what to put this under.**

 **Author: Dark Habit**

 **Timeline: N/A**

 **Status: AU**

The Dragon-Tamer's Test

After several hours of stumbling through the forest, I reach a clearing. Looking up, the Dragonstone Mountains loom over me as the sun sets. _Given my pace, I should reach the foot of the mountain by noon tomorrow. Then comes the hard part._

I begin to set up camp. Once my tent was set up, I went through my pack to gather some of my food. Lighting a small fire, I prepare some of the venison I preserved from a deer I hunted yesterday.

I hear the bushes rustle nearby. _That… wasn't an animal. They wouldn't get this close with my fire burning._

I call out as I grab my hunting knife. "Who is out there?"

"Nobody more than a weary traveler who chanced upon your fire." A woman walked out with her hands open to show she meant no harm. A bird's plumage on the back of her neck denoted her as a beastkin. "I lost my provisions crossing a nearby river and hoped to beg some from you if you have spare."

 _Those who travel the world must take care of each other_. "I'll make some more food."

As we settle down to eat, I decide to indulge my curiosity. "What brings you to the Dragonstone?"

A light blush appears on her face. "To be honest… my map was damaged a few days ago and I've been lost ever since."

"The nearest town is a week's trek away. In the morning I can direct you in the general direction."

She smiles. "Thank you so much. If I may return the question, why do you travel this road?"

"My family has… a tradition. Once we come of age, we set out for the Dragonstone Mountains and scale it."

"Aren't the mountains named for its inhabitants? I would never dream of drawing the ire of dragons."

"My family has an understanding with them going back many generations. My trek is to renew the promise made so long ago."

She nods. "I see. As it stands, I am weary from my travels and bid you goodnight."

…

Once the traveler receives directions to town, she leaves with a newfound energy in her step. However, I reflect on the glaring hole in her story. _There isn't a river anywhere near here._

…

As I reach the mountains, I look up as I wipe the sweat off of my face. _So dad climbed this mountain when he was my age. I hope I can live up to his expectations._

I hear something from behind me and look in awe as a pair of dragons, one red; the other white, land in front of me. The white one begins to growl, but to me he speak as clear as day. " _Well brother, what do you think we should do with this trespasser?"_

 _"I'm feeling rather hungry. What do you say to a nice cooked meal?"_

I respond, dragontongue flowing from my lips. " _I am here to invoke the Onyx family's oath."_

They both turn to look at me. " _A pact-maker?"_

The red one growls. " _The Onyx clan died out. For your lies I shall make your end painful."_ He begins to inhale, flames building in his throat.

A yellow dragon, much larger, swoops down between us. " _Crimson, Yin! Stop right now!"_ The dragon turns to face me. " _My apology, pact-maker. Younglings like these two are not supposed to come down these mountains for a reason. You speak our tongue. That alone grants you safe passage up this mountain. Now you two, apologize!"_

The red one wraps a wing in front of his face. " _I'm sorry for the misunderstanding._ " After a moment of silence, he nudges the white one. " _Yin, you too._ "

He stands there. Eventually he growls out, " _…sorry… There, Aunt Yang. Happy?"_

She lifts off the ground and looks at them. " _The two of you are going to travel with her until she reaches the caves. As punishment, you will_ _ **not**_ _fly a single foot of the way._ " She heads back up the mountain.

Crimson looks at me. " _For the record, how long will that take?_ "

I look upward. " _If I'm lucky, a little before sunset._ "

Yin lets out a growl of frustration. Crimson, however looks delighted. " _I can't believe I get to be a part of a pact-maker's trials!"_

Yin swipes out with a wing, smacking his brother in the head. " _This is a punishment_ , **_remember_** _?_ "

…

As we neared the top of the mountain, I question the brothers. " _Why did you two fly down the mountain in the first place_?"

Yin responded. " _My foolish brother decided that since we had had grown large enough to fly reliably, we should head down the mountains into the forest. I followed because it was too dangerous to leave him alone._ "

 _"Don't pretend you weren't curious about the outside world as well!"_

 _"Shut up Crimson. All of this started when you started talking about the elders about the world outside."_

We finally reach the entrance to the cavern. Inside I see a dozen dragons resting, looking at us expectantly. Whispers abound.

 _"This is the Onyx child?"_

 _"Poor dear, she's barely bigger than a hatchling."_

 _"Will she even past the last trial?"_

A massive growl erupts from the back, were a purple dragon sits. " ** _Silence_** _, all of you! So the latest pact-maker comes to face the trials."_

Assuming he was the one charge, I nod as I walk up and knee before him. " _I am Haley, daughter of Alexander Onyx. I have come to fulfill my family's pact to the Clans of the Dragonstone."_

He leans in, and I realize how large he was. His _eye_ was half my size. " _I remember him. You, however, smell of the beastkin."_

 _"My mother was wolfkin. I inherited some of her enhanced senses, though I appear human to the untrained eye."_

The elder rises. " _Nevertheless, I see no reason to re-invoke the bonds to a dead family. Leave us._ "

I stand up. " _You go back on the oath made by Dragonstone Elders more than five centuries old?_ "

 _"Leave before I incinerate you were you stand."_

I stare at him. _"The Onyx have no fears of flame."_

He releases a stream of black fire at me. In reflex I close my eyes, but open them again when the flames fail to touch me. The black fire burned in a circle around me, but the center was untouched. The Elder begins to laugh.

 _"Haley of the Onyx clan. You have passed all three trials. I am honored to entrust one of our hatchlings to your care."_

I stand dumbfounded. " _I didn't perform any trial."_

 _"You did, child. The only true trials are the ones that are not revealed to be such until afterwards. The first was the Hawkkin you met. She lied to you, and yet you treated her with kindness. Your hatchling will need much love from you. The second was forgiveness."_ He gestures to Crimson and Yin.

" _These two threatened you, yet you still traveled with them without anger or resentment. The hatchling will make mistakes, but you will need to forgive them._ "

Crimson nods. " _Sorry for lying to you like that. We were forbidden from reveling anything."_

I look back to the Elder. " _I take it you were the third trial."_

He nods. " _Determination. Whether through bravery or courage, you must be ready to go through with everything in front of you. However, the time has come to make your pact. I believe that you will find the one arranged for you to be a most enjoyable surprise."_

 _…_

I was lead to an empty chamber and told to wait. I sit down as I reflect on just what occurred. I grew up with the expectation of one day having a dragon companion, but it had only sunk in. Dad had always said that, while most people assume we control the dragon, it was a true partnership of equals. The way he and Ivory would act as one was amazing and I hoped that I could bond as close to mine one day.

I hear a growl from behind me. " _I am glad to see you again. It seems like just a few days ago you were nothing more than a hatchling yourself."_

 _There's no way._ I turn around to see a dragon I never expected to see again. "Uncle Ivory _?_ "

He nudges me with his head. " _Hey there, puppy. Your parents would be so proud of you._ "

"Why are you here _?_ "

A hatchling slowly waddles from behind him. Ivory gestures. " _This is my child. Her name is Terra. She was chosen be your partner._ "

I reach out with a hand, and rub Terra on her snout. "You trust me with her _?_ "

" _I loved your father as a brother. When he died… I felt like I failed him. I couldn't face you after that and left you alone. I know you were raised to be like him in every way that mattered. You'll protect Terra, and she will protect you. Just like the pact was meant to be_."

Terra starts to speak. " _Friend! Play!_ "

I laugh. " _Sure, my little cousin."_

 **WN: That's a wrap. Had quite a bit of fun writing this one.**

 **Once again, congrats to CPF12. And no, I am not explaining why because I not revealing someone else's personal details. I'm Dark, not a d!ck.**


	5. Megami Ibunroku Phoenix Rose

**DH: Blame The Commander on this one. He put it into my diseased head and my OCD demands it to be written. All I did was mention I was trying to match the characters of Phoenix Rose to the Arcana Deck, for a one off gag I wasn't even sure I was going to** ** _use_** **.**

 **I will not apologize for any inaccuracies concerning the Persona series as I have never** ** _seen_** **a Megami Tensei cartridge in my life, not for lack of trying; and I'm not trying to do a straight adaption.  
**

 **Author: dark habit**

 **Timestamp: first year of Beacon**

 **Status: Tensei crossover AU**

Megami Ibunroku Phoenix Rose

Jason's POV

It started off so peacefully. Rex was meditating on his bed. I was using my scroll and trying to find something interesting. Haley was reading. Everything was going just fine.

Then Azure decided she was bored. She simply appeared next to Haley, startling her.

Rex opens his eyes. "What did we say about using your Semblance in our dorm room?"

Azure flips him off. "Everyone else uses theirs'. I've nearly tripped over Haley's pets multiple times." She turns to the girl in question. "So what are you reading?"

"Romance novel."

"About?"

"It's not important."

Azure smirks. "Ah... it's smut isn't it?"

Haley lets out a mixture of an outraged screech and an embarrassed choking. I turn to Rex and think out a question. _Does she have_ any _shame?_

He shakes his head. "Not that I'm aware of. I thought you had realized that when she didn't bat an eye at the changing incident."

My face turns red as my mind dredges up the memory. _I did_ not _need to know she doesn't wear bras. And she should change in the bathroom like everyone else!_

Our attention quickly shift back to the girls. Azure had stolen the book from Haley and was playing keep away with her Semblance while skimming through it. "Oh Dust, who writes this crap?"

Haley tackles Azure and the two go flying towards the mirror on the wall. I flinch in anticipation of the resulting shards flying everywhere. Instead, they go _through_ the mirror as it ripples like water.

"That's... not normal."

Rex ignores me and heads to the mirror. He taps it a few times to watch it ripple, before sticking his arm in to the elbow. He turns to look at me. "Someone has to get them. You coming?"

I nod while sending a message to Commander Rose that something odd was happening with our mirror and we were investigating it. By the time I stand up, Rex had already walked through.

I take a deep breath to calm myself and enter the mirror.

* * *

Haley's POV

 _Did I go_ in _the mirror?_

I look around the strange room I was in before a voice appears. _'Another soul has entered the realm of Shadows. You will forevermore be in great peril, but it would be remiss not to offer you a chance to fight back. Step to the deck on the table, shuffle and draw your Mask."_

 _Mask?_ I slowly approach the table and do so. The picture shows a man wearing a ceremonial robe.

 _'For she who follows the footsteps of those before her, I grant you the Arcana of the Hierophant. Let the past guide your future, but be sure to create your own path.'_

My vision fades to black.

* * *

Azure's POV

 _Where am I?_ Panic fills me as I examine my surroundings.

A bodiless voice rings out _. 'The next new player in the distortion. Your weariness will serve you well. Shuffle the deck before you to claim the Mask to see you through the darkness.'_

My card holds merely a skull glaring back.

 _'For she who has lost one life and was reborn into another, I grant you the Arcana of Death. Fear not the Reaper, for he shall lead you to peace.'_

I draw a dagger and slash in the general vicinity of the invisible speaker before I suddenly pass out.

* * *

Rex's POV

I am quickly greeted by a invisible being. ' _Another champion to purge the dark with darkness. Take a card and claim the Mask that shall serve as your sword.'_

Faint amusement fills me as I see my card is a horse-drawn chariot.

 _'For he who will reach his goal at any cost, I grant you the Arcana of the Chariot. Charge forth, but remember what you stand to lose.'_

I embrace the encroaching darkness as my mind fades.

* * *

Jason's POV

As soon as I step through the mirror, a voice appears from nowhere. _'_ _The last new blood enters the twisted mirror... For now. Claim your Mask from the deck and prepare for a new world of trials.'_

I stare in wonder at the tower piercing the sky on my card.

' _For he who dreams of changing the world to perfection, I grant you the Arcana of the Tower. Reach high, but know when your goal cannot be attained.'_

The shadows rise from the ground and pull me to the floor and through it.

* * *

Haley's POV

I wake up in our room next to the prone bodies of my teammates. They quickly come to and we stare at each other. I feel something odd in my pocket and pull it out, revealing the Hierophant I drew. "Are we dreaming this?"

Azure laughs. "How can we all be in the same dream?" She pulls out her own card and worry fills me at the sight of the skull.

Jason pulls out a picture of a tower. "Well, Rex interacts with people's minds. Could he pull us into his dream?"

Rex takes out a card bearing a chariot. "There is neither my parents criticizing me from beyond the grave nor anybody trying to kill me yet. I doubt this is my dream."

Jason begins to comment on that, but Azure stops him. "Guys? Look at this." She points to the line of books on the shelf. All the writing on the spine was in reverse. She quickly opens one, and the words inside are also flipped.

Rex looks outside. "The courtyard is empty. There should be dozens of students out there." The four of us quickly head outside with our weapons.

 _This is... surreal._

A noise draws our attention. Several _things_ approach us. One was a large black beetle with a purple horn. Two large black birds fly down, a golden mask on their faces.

The most disturbing was the disembodied hand walking on the floor with its fingers.

Whatever they were, they were _not_ Grimm. As Azure ducks under the diving attack of one of the birds, we understood they also weren't friendly.

Rex speaks up. "I take back the argument that this isn't my dream."

Jason looks at Rex. "Dude. Get help if this is what you usually dream."

Azure charges forward and stabs the beetle in the eye. Or rather, the blade simply went through the beetle looking unbothered. She quickly Shifts back to Rex's side by reflex.

Jason fires a round into one of the birds, only for it to pass through it unhindered. With a howl, Rex rushes forward and attempts to punch the beetle with a Aura fueled fist. Like everything else, his hand sinks through without harming it.

In response the beetle slams it's horn into Rex, drawing a large cut in his chest that quickly is covered in the black glow of his Aura as he desperately patches his skin together again. Rex unleashes a mental scream of pain in our heads that makes it clear that this wasn't a dream.

We couldn't hurt them, but the blood on Rex showed that they could hurt us, even with our Aura as a shield.

Azure was clearly terrified. "We can't win this, can we?"

 _We can't give up..._

Rex closes his eyes and his breathing stills. He speaks softly, and the pain is evident is his voice. "Everyone, run. I won't be much help to you like this, but this way only one of us has to die"

Jason walks next to him. "I'm not leaving you here alone. Two decoys will serve twice as long."

I approach the two. "I not running away."

Azure takes the rear. "I can't... I _won't_ abandon you guys. I'd never forgive myself. All of us or none of us." The creatures approach for the kill.

The Hierophant grows warm in my pocket. As I look at it, words come to my mind. I move without thinking, holding the card out. "The hero's path. Persona!" The card glows and the creatures move back. In front of me stood a man wearing ceremonial robes, and holding a staff. I look at my hand to see the card had vanished. He stares into my eyes and a voice appears.

 ** _'Excuse me... But are you my incarnation? Ah, that's what I thought... I am Xuanzang... Now, let us hurry on our way.'_**

 _His incarnation?_

Azure shouts out with her own card held high. "Destruction and rebirth. Persona!" A skeleton in a red cloak appears wielding a scythe. She looks at it for a few seconds. "Is that... Ruby as a skeleton? The _fuck_?"

Rex and Jason both call out. "Unwavering will/Unachievable dreams. Persona!" Two beings appeared, one a ox-headed man with a red cape; the other was a green-skinned blond dressed in fine pale-blue armor.

The four of us exchange glances, the unspoken question of who would try first hanged heavy in the air. Rex steps forward and raises a hand. Clenching his fist he shouts out a command. "Gozu-Tennoh, protect us!"

The ox-man charges forward and slams into the beetle. I immediately take advantage of the distraction to command the man I summoned, his name rushing to my lips. "Xuanzang, grant your wisdom!" He points a staff at one of the birds and it is enveloped in a blast of light.

"Loki, time to play a trick!" The green skinned man raises his hand, shooting out an electric bolt that strikes the other bird.

"Ankou, harvest their souls!" The skeleton seemingly glides forth. However, instead of targeting the hand, it strikes the beetle from the side, scythe carving into its skin. Gozu-Tennoh smashes the mask of the beetle with his fist, which quickly dissolves into shadows.

The hand decides to attack us instead of the creatures we summoned and moves toward us. Azure runs forward and jumps up with a flip, making a point of landing on the mask before back-flipping off and throwing a knife at the thing. This time the knife lodges in the hand's flesh. Seeing the advantage, Jason and I charge forward and slash the fingers with our weapons. Before it responds, we both plant a blade into it's mask and it fades away.

As I turn my attention back to the birds, I see one dive at Xuanzang, only to be batted aside by the staff. Rex unleashes a series of bullets that quickly destroy it. He reloads with a casual glance towards the last one.

This bird acts smarter, as it dives towards me but quickly changes direction to strike Ankou, dodging its awkward counter. As it's talons slice the skeleton's arm, we hear Azure gasp as she grabs her own. She takes her hand off to see a line of blood. She glares at the bird.

Azure quickly slips her sniper into her hand and fires a shot that blasts a hole in the bird's wing. It falls toward Ankou, who decapitates it in a twirling slice.

With the creatures defeated,the four of us let out a sigh of relief. Our summoned allies begin to glow. When the light fades, all that remains are the four cards that summoned them, except now they bore the images of the beings connected to them.

Rex breaks the silence. "Worst... dream... ever." And with that, the rest of us laugh, the tension dissipating away.

* * *

Jason's POV

We head back to the dorms in this strange reverse world. Suddenly Azure grips one of her daggers and turns around. "I hear you. Who's there?" I reach for my card, expecting another creature to show up.

"Azure? We found you guys!" Ruby comes running towards us, followed by Weiss, who was on her scroll.

Weiss' eyes locks onto the card in my hand. "You have an Arcana?"

 _Is that what these cards are called?_ "We all do."

Rex slowly draws his sword. "Odd you have information about this place. Talk."

She shakes her head. "It's not safe here. Use the mirror that got you here to go back to our world."

Ruby smiles. "Yeah, Dad can explain everything!"

I exchange glances with my team. _We don't really have other options._

We go back to 'our' room and look at the mirror. Rex volunteers to test it for dangers and steps through. He quickly returns. "It's safe."

We step through and it seems we were in the exact same place, until Haley opens a book, printed in the proper direction.

I give a weary smile. "We're back."

* * *

Azure's POV

We were in the staff dorms of the academy, looking at Team RWBY and Commander Rose.

I glare at the man. "I better really like the explanation for all this, _Martin_."

Haley and Jason wince at my disrespect, but he waves it off. "First, I'd like to hear what you've figured out for yourself."

Haley speaks up. "The entrance to this world is through mirrors; everything is flipped around; masked monsters that aren't Grimm wander through it; these.. Arcana hold beings inside them; and the monsters were effectively unkillable until the cards were used."

Rex nods. "And you clearly know of this world and warned your family of it, since they were rather comfortable in it."

Commander Rose nods. "Fair assessment. That was the Distorted World, and the monsters you saw are known as Shadows, and are literally formed from our own darker thoughts and emotions. They are as merciless as the Grimm and seek only to further propagate themselves by spreading fear and misfortune. Thankfully, they struggle to access our world and are only rarely able to assert any influence."

Jason pales. "But with the Grimm drawn by negative emotions, any problems caused by the Shadows will quickly lead to Grimm attacks that hide their involvement and further cause the Shadows to grow more numerous."

RWBY's solemn glances do nothing to dissuade us that Jason was right. I speak my question. "What were the creatures we summoned and why did their appearance allow us to fight the Shadows?"

Haley starts muttering. "Are you my incarnation? Ah, that's what I thought..."

The Commander nods. "Pull out your cards... the Arcana." We do so and he continues. "Shadows simply don't exist in the same way Humans and Faunus do. After all, how does one attack an idea? The answer is with another idea. I don't know that exact specifics, but the Arcana are a rare but powerful blessing. They allow one to summon a Persona, a creature not unlike the Shadows. A Persona is bound to you a spiritual level, binding both of your fates together. It will follow your commands, although it will act on its own thoughts otherwise, and grow as you do. In exchange, they both strengthen your resistance to the Shadow attacks and allow one to actively fight them."

I stare at Ankou's card recalling what he said when I called him. **'** _ **Zu, Zudoooooooon‼ I, I, I am Ankou‼ You, you, you are Ankou too‼'** Is he truly a part of who I am now?_

Rex places his hand on my shoulder, and his touch calms me. ( _You are YOU, Azure. No more, no less._ )

However, he speaks aloud to everyone else. "Now the question is why you knew all of this."

Weiss answers by pulling out a card. No, an _Arcana_ , with the word Priestess underneath the bound entity. "Everyone in this room has an Arcana."

Ruby, Blake, and Yang retrieve their own cards, respectively marked Star, Moon, and Sun.

Rex glares at Commander Rose, who hasn't moved. "She said everyone in it. We've shown ours, so what's yours?"

The Commander reaches into his sleeve to pull out a Arcana, withered with age. On it beared the title of Emperor. "I'll admit I did not think so many Arcana users would be at Beacon at any one point. If you let me, I would like to teach you about Personas like I do with being a Hunter."

All four of us nodded in sync. "We're in."

* * *

 **DH: This was a remarkably weird thing to write. Especially since I've been coming off a massive case of writer's block. Still, I did it, and its one of my longer bits.**

 **I used several sites to research tarot cards, and while I worked on this, I noted that several of the Arcana were... misinterpreted... by the games. The major issue I have with this is the Tower Arcana, as it was relevant. Where such conflicts occurred, I used my outside sources.**

 **Death, The Wheel of Fortune, and The Tower are all cards of change, and as such, are neutral in nature.**

 **Death, which was given to Azure, usually correlates to a change in oneself, often accompanied by a spiritual rebirth. It can be harsh and cruel, but also brings peace of mind.  
**

 **Fortune is a change in, well, fortune and luck (good or bad for the record). It is a card representing the cyclical nature of good and bad luck, and Karma. Good times must end, so enjoy while they last. Bad times end as well, so take solace that things will get better.  
**

 **The Tower, which I gave to Jason, represents the changing world around us. One of my sources even stressed that it is not as bad as it is commonly assumed. Persona marks it as a sign of Arrogance and that it has few good meanings. While the story of the Tower of Babel, which is a common image of the Arcana, is a tale of mankind's arrogance to challenge the heavens, it is also a story of our boundless potential to match the divine powers through effort. It is a card for those that dream what many consider impossible, whether good or bad. The card is used to remind us to focus on what we _can_ do if what we _desire_ to do is beyond us. I do have my reasons for why Jason has the Tower, but that will be addressed in Canon Timeline.**

 **Some side notes, I actually had other choices for Rex and Azure. Rex walks a path that splits in two, which is the calling of the Hanged Man. Azure potentially could have been given the Devil, which has also been misinterpreted by the games (and again, this is one where the assumption is called out), as it represents the feeling that you have no choice in your future (even if you hold the keys to guide it how you wish). However, I felt that the Chariot and Death were closer to their true personalities and alignments. Also, I have Arcana for several other characters in the case that a follow up to this ever occurs.  
**

 **I promise that Dressed in DRAB will be updated soonish, as the chapter itself is pretty close to done, but I still have a bit of writer's block to get rid of. I respectfully ask you all to stay patient with me.**


	6. Just a Game?

**DH: so... totally acknowledging this took way too long to start writing, and I actually should be working on school essays right now and not this, but...**

 **For the majority of you who don't track my twitter feed (that I rarely use), this chapter actually went to a vote with the rest of Team PHNX. Unanimous decision for this one. I have another piece I could of written instead of this. It will instead be written after the first chapter of year 3 in Sanctum Soldiers.**

 **Author: Dark Habit**

 **Time-stamp: Between Death's Messengers and The Beast Runs Loose**

 **Status: Semi-canon**

 **Just a Game?**

Jason's POV

 _I wonder why Rex wanted me to come to his room?_

I raise my hand to knock on his door only for Rex suddenly opening it. I catch a glimpse of Azure before she vanishes with her Semblance.

I raise an eyebrow. "Impressive timing. May I come in?"

He nods before gesturing inwards. "Please make yourself at home."

I walk in and notice the desk he had, covered in papers and books. I read the cover of the top book and realize he's been studying psychology. "That's rather different from your usual combat books."

He shrugs. "A large part of how I fight is understanding how my opponents' think. If I can push them to think _this_ , I can then do _that_. You understand?"

"I guess so. So why did you want me to come over?"

"A few reasons. First I wanted to talk to you. Second, I was hoping you were up for a game of chess. Azure is not the best partner for that."

I see he had a chess set ready, one of the thematic kinds with black being replaced by Grimm. "Why not? I always considered her to be pretty clever."

His shoulders slump slightly. "She is brilliant, but she never thinks more than a few seconds ahead. I could easily best her by offering her a short term advantage that she would inevitably overstretch. She hates playing strategy games with me, and tries to get me to play card games as there is more luck involved. That, and she cheats like Hell."

"You certain?"

"She keeps more than knives in her clothing. I once pulled 6 aces out of her left sleeve and a royal flush in the right one. She also deck-stacks." He sits on the Grimm side of the board. "Considering you're my guest, I'll grant you the advantage of the first move here."

I sit down at the table. "Never bet on cards with Azure, got it. So the poker game she's planning is a scam?" I stare at Rex's pieces. A line of beowolves match my pawns, my rooks stared down boarbatusks , knights and nevermore faced off, and a pair of griffons stood opposite my bishops. Replacing my king and queen were a deathstalker and king taijitu, respectively. Also ironically, considering the _king_ taijitu was his _queen._

"Big time, not to mention against the rules, but she never gives a damn about rules to begin with." He drops a folded piece of paper next to the board.

"Not going to explain that?" I move a pawn forward, freeing my queen's bishop to move.

"We'll deal with it when it becomes relevant." He brought a nevermore up front.

"So what did you want to talk about?" I moved my bishop in front of my queen's rook, ready to strike.

He moved a beowolf forward two squares to free his griffon. "About the incident with Boarius and why I never tried to clear up the misunderstanding we had before that."

I advanced a pawn to free up my rook. "Would have been the simple solution."

"Simple, not the most effective." he placed his griffon in front of the borbatusk on the same side.

"You considered me distrusting you to be more _effective_?" I brought out my king's knight.

"I'll explain." He brought out his other nevermore. "When I first met you, I saw your inherent drive to get stronger."

I move up the pawn in front of my king up. "Keep going."

"You had a goal, but no real benchmark for how close you were to achieving it. I decided I'd be the benchmark." he moved a nevermore further up.

"Excuse me?"

"I beat you, badly. You were mad and wanted payback. To you, I was _strong_ and you wanted to be strong. So, you pushed yourself to surpass me."

"You have to be kidding me." I moved my king's bishop where the pawn was.

"I'm rather familiar with how wanting to be stronger than someone else can drive you forward, so I provided that push. I respected you, so you being mad was a small price to pay for helping you." he moved the nevermore again, starting to threaten my pieces.

I castled, sheltering my king from attacks and making his nevermore's targets bad choices. "A motivation trick? Really?"

"I have a deep understanding of how people think. My skills in that area match your techsavvy. I figured it would work, so I did it." He pushed forward with his beowolf.

I frown at his strategy, moving a knight to counter. "So Artic screwed up your plans to keep pushing me?"

"Not quite. Our personal competition is pretty much habit by now. Besides, I've been planning to deal with Boarius for a while. Learning his Semblance from that brawl is rather useful."

"You really hate him." That wasn't a question.

Rex moves another beowolf forward. "He sickens me. He lacks the honor to be a Huntsman. He does not deserve to be here, so both me and Azure have been screwing with him in subtle ways."

I further shored up my defense. "He's an ass. We'll kick him back into his place anytime he steps out of it."

He captured one of my pawns with his nevermore, only to have my king claim it in response. "We?"

"Of course. None of us like him." I glare the hole in my defense he created with that sacrifice. "What style of play is this?"

He smirks deviously. "It should be obvious. Destroying the opponent's defensive and keeping a strong offense. This is the _Grimm_ Gambit."

I laugh at the revelation. "You picked this set on purpose for that joke."

"No, I did the exact opposite."

We continued, and he showcased how effectively he had set me up. Every time I tried to protect myself, he further opened the hole in my defense. He had set up so many attacks that I couldn't cover them all despite knowing his strategy. He was even using his deathstalker aggressively while making it hard to capture.

I was forced to bring my king back towards the open as he piled threats on the corner I planted it in. He quickly tossed away the rest of his beowolves in a trap that cleared many of my stronger pieces from the board.

It was just then that I realized that he never moved his first griffon after bringing it out early on in the game. He grabbed it and placed it right next to my king. "Checkmate."

I was trapped. I couldn't even take the griffon with my king as it was backed by his deathstalker. I raise my hand. "Good game." he shakes it before unfolding the paper from before. I read what was written on it.

 _Griffon takes king on its second move in the game._

 _What?_ "You knew how you would win?"

He smirks again. "People assume that chess is pure tactics. There is also a large amount of reading your opponent as well. I know how you think. Therefore I wrote this before you entered the room and led you into responding in ways so my 'prophecy' became real. I used such an aggressive strategy, for example, as it lead you to responding to the threats that _were_ occurring instead of focusing on the one piece that was not being moved. Had you made it impossible to make that prediction occur, I would have opened the paper and admitted you had outsmarted me."

"You manipulative bastard." I start laughing.

"Manipulative, I plead guilty to. However, I am no bastard."

"We'll have to play again some time. I won't fall for those tricks again."

* * *

Rex's POV

We talk bit more before Jason leaves. After I close the door, I look at the book and sigh. _In a way, he did defy my predictions. I thought for sure he would have figured out my Semblance from this._

 **DH: Huh... this was actually written in less than three hours. Normally that should have taken six. Victory, I guess?**

 **Anyways, during my stupid break, I came up with a very odd idea that may show up at some point if I can get enough help from the rest of Team PHNX. No promises on it occurring.**


	7. A Peaceful Village

**DH: I guess we can say the new year starts off right, thanks to the contribution of Dantai, who has been working on this piece for quite some time. I've teased him about how long it's taken, but I appreciate the work he has put into this.**

Author: Dantai

Status: ALL THE CANNONS

Time Stamp: **14** years before Sanctum Soldiers. **(Remember, Dantai, Combat schools start at 13. Hunter Academies are 17.)**

August 22 1998

Lilla Fonce was running from beowolves in the Eversnow forest, as she ran the gnarled black trees melted into simple passing blurs as she ran faster and faster with only two thoughts on her mind, the pack of murderers grimm behind her and her unborn child. She hazarded a glance behind her trying to see how close they were when she stopped and saw that they weren't there anymore. She threw glances everywhere she could trying to at least spot their white bone armor or their evil red eyes, but nothing not a single sight.

'Finally I can catch my breath.' she slouched over in exhaustion and closed her eyes trying hard to not get too relaxed knowing that the grimm could come back at anytime. She was almost fully rested when she heard a snarl from behind. As fast as humanly possible she spun around and stumbled back locking eyes with floating red glowing eyes. Out of the shadows a large feline grimm prowled out low to the ground a Nemean*. Growing closer and closer she knew the grimm liked to play its food, so what else was their to do then run. Once she got up and started to run the Nemean gave her a five second head start waiting for the real fun to kick in.

'Great first beowolves, now a damned Nemean is chasing me.' Lilla thought to herself as yet again she started to run for her and her child's life. After a few minutes of running a root snagged her foot causing her to trip. As she fell she rolled into a ball trying to protect her baby. When she hit the ground she hit a hill that was going down causing her to roll and tumble down. Once she stopped she kept her eyes closed waiting for the grim to kill her, but it never came, hesitantly opening her eyes to stare directly at the gray, clouded, sky instead of the underside of trees, or the maw of a grim. Cautiously sitting up she say the blackened lion pacing back and forth between two trees as if a wall was between them. Keeping her eyes on the grimm she didn't notice an old, wizened, man walking up behind her. The man had

After a few minutes of the old man walking he tapped Lilla on her shoulder with his large wooden walkingstick. When he did Lilla, who was still keeping her eyes heavily on the grim at the time, shout up off the ground and spun so fast the old man was surprised she didn't get dizzy. When she came eye to eye with the man he smiled a warming smile towards her and spoke in a very low and calming voice.

"Hello lass I'm elder Hvitt Lys," he said with his smile growing wider with every word, " and welcome to Trygghavena a village that as you can see repels grimm." as he said this Lilla's eyes widen she was about to ask how when she felt a sharp, small kick from an even smaller foot. After the kick the entire day's worth of pain came flooding back as the flow of adrenaline stopped, as the pain returned she doubled over from pain and her vision started to fade to where she could only barely make out the old man reach inside his robes and pull something out.

* * *

After Lilla's quick arrival and her blackout, Hvitt quickly pulled out an amulet out of his robes and pushed it against her chest to protect her from the cold. After he had done that he quickly picked her up and brought her to his medicine hut in the village. As he carried her to the village he started to studied her. The girl was of medium size, maybe 5"7' if he had to guess, and a thin build, she also had rather dark purple hair and ice blue eyes. Her appearance reminded him rather errily of someone he had see in a dream. Hvitt, remembering the condition she was in, shook his head of these thoughts and rushed to the village.

* * *

August 27, 1998

Havitt was walking around his hut looking for different herbs that could be used to help the rest of the village recover from their daily pains and the occasional sick child, but he wasn't alone in his little hut, also gathering ingredients was his assistant, a fifteen year old boy named Sininen. Along with Hvitt and Sininen their were the village's newest inhabitants, Lilla and her child. After Hvitt had carried the girl to the village she instantly became a thing of interest to all, and after the questions had been answered he took her to the medical hut, laid her on the examination table, and checked her over for any and all injuries then he let her rest. That had been five days ago, and in only five days her body had almost fully healed so all she needed to do was wake up

Hvitt was cutting up a small plant up when he heard a small grone. Thinking that it was just Sininen having trouble lifting something he ignored it until he heard the grone again, looking up Hvitt saw that Lilla was waking up from her 'nap' and trying to move. Within a few strides he had crossed the room he found that she was awake.

"Where am I," she asked as she started to sit up before a burning pain spread throughout her body causing her to crash back to the bed. Hvitt quickly grabbed a vial from a nearby shelf and gave it to the pained girl.

"Here drink this," he said as he handed it to her "it will dull the pain." He explained when she gave him a questioning look, and once that was said she drank the contents of the vial before almost immediately wanting to throw it up.

"As for where you are like I said you are in Trygghavena a secluded village in Eversnow forest." After Hvitt explained where she was the events that lead up to this came rushing back to her along. All the stress, the worries, and the fear that came with those events came crashing down on her mixing with the pain causing her to do the only thing a body **can** do when at its limit, she started to cry. Hvitt, who saw her as kind of like a granddaughter, quickly enveloped her in a warm hug and let her cry.

* * *

This skips around time a lot.

After three weeks of resting and healing Hvitt helped Lilla walk around and meet the villagers, and while some of them were rather hesitant to talk to or even see an outsider she was able to make friends with a few people. Once fully healed Lilla wanted to learn all she could about the village that could repel grimm and Hvitt, who had for all intents and purposes had adopted her, was more than happy to teach her about the runes of the village, about the various potions used to heal, and much more.

One late night Hvitt was was asleep, dreaming of four teens two boys one with wings as black as night and the other had wolf ears with a notch missing from one of them. The other teens were both girls a human with dragon tattoos on her arms and the other with blue feathers on the back of her neck. The teens were fighting an army of grimm with a few others he couldn't see. As the battle was about to reach its tipping point Hvitt was roughly awoken by sob that reverberated through the house. Jumping to his feet as fast as he could, he all but ran to the source of the sobs. When he found the source he saw that it was Lilla who was sat in front of a toilet heaving everything from her stomach into it. Hvitt smiled sadly at her and walked off to retrieve some medicine to help her.

* * *

January 22, 1999

Lilla and Viride, Lilla's only friend, were sitting at the Big Bear Cafe eating lunch when she felt a very strong pain hit her stomach causing her to double over slightly and once the pain stopped she was able to sit back up and see Viride's very concerned look.

"Don't worry Viride its just Jason kicking." Lilla said lightly patting her very swollen stomach.

"So you finally named him, Jason Fonce, sounds rather nice." Viride said after turning the name over in her head a few times.

"Well not quite, Jason is going to be his first name, but Fonce won't be his last name." Lilla replied before explaining herself at Viride's quizzical look. "I want him to have something from his father so I'm naming him Jason Breach." When Lilla finished she felt another pain rip through her stomach this time longer and more painful. Once the bout of pain finished Lilla sat up again to see Virida even more concerned about her friend.

"Lilla, are you sure you're okay?" Viride asked. Lilla was about to reply when her eyes went wide with shock. Virida tried to ask what was wrong but she couldn't get a response. Finally after a minute Lilla was able to reply.

"My water broke."

* * *

After Viride was able to snap out of her shock, she was able to help Lilla out of the cafe and head to Hvitt, inside the hut Hvitt was currently setting up a room for Lilla's baby when he heard that his front door had been kicked down. Quickly dropping the baby beding he had in his hands and went to discover where the source of the disturbance came from. When he entered he saw the telltale purple hair of Lilla, who looked to be in pain, and her friend Viride, who looked extremely concerned.

"Viride, what's the matter?" Hvitt asked starting to grow worried by both Lilla's pained look and Viride's worry.

"Lilla's water broke." she quickly explained as she started to dart around the hut trying to gather the materials to help deliver the baby.

"Viride calm down the contractions haven't started yet." Hvitt heard from behind him, quickly turning around he saw that Lilla was almost completely calm, but Viride clearly hadn't heard. "Viride, calm down." she tried again with the same result.

" **Viride, calm down."** Hvitt said as he lightly grabbed onto Viride's shoulder to stop her moving, and once that was done he turned back to Lilla.

"Now then, let's bring the baby into this world." he said with a grandfatherly smile.

* * *

After twenty two hours of pushing, screaming, and crying, some of it done by Viride, Lilla was almost done giving birth. For some reason that Hvitt couldn't understand Lilla was having trouble giving birth. The head of the child was crowning followed almost excruciatingly slowly, and after another ten minutes or so, Hvitt finally found out why the birth was taking so long. Along with the top of the head a bundle of feathers were peaking out meaning the child was a avien faunus.

"Viride, I need you to grab a vile off the wall for me it's in a tall bluish vial." He said to the green haired girl who was standing a few feet away because couldn't be near Lilla while she was in pain. Viride reacted quickly and grabbed the described vile. Inside the vial was a mixture of Luna tree leaves, Oum root, and liquefied Shawcross reeds, and was made to help faunus and humans alike give birth to babies with odd shaped extremities by relaxing the body and dulling the pain.

Quickly he had a screaming Lilla down the remedy in one gulp, once the potion was gone Hvitt immediately saw that Lilla was in less pain and that the baby was coming out easier. Two hours later Hvitt quickly took the baby away and left Lilla and Viride alone. Once Lilla had calmed down Viride quickly hurried over to comfort the new mother.

"Viride where's Jason, where is my baby?" Lilla ask in a slow heavy voice. Viride looked back to the cloth curitten Hvitt had disappeared behind.

"I don't know but I'll find out." Viride said as she stood up and stalked over to the curtin. She gripped the curtin tightly and yanked it away to show a very ashened and haggard looking Hvitt standing over a lump of blankets.

"Hvitt what's the matter, is Jason ok?" Viride asked with a very concerned tone once she saw his face.

"The child is fine, or he almost is." he replied still not looking away from the lumps of blankets.

"What's the matter, what's wrong?" she asked her concern growing even more. Instead of answering however, Hvitt simply removed the blanket from the form to reveal a rather small baby with wings as black as midnight. Viride's face also paled at the infantile form before shaking her head in denial.

"Why are his wings already black, he was _just_ born?" she asked her voice shaking the entire time.

"I do not know, what I do know however is that he will be shunned for it." Hvitt replied looking down at the baby for the first time properly. The baby, 'No Jason' Hvitt reminded himself, was smiling up at the elderly man with deep brown eyes, his wings were wavering slightly.

"It doesn't matter, we are apart of Lilla's life that means we, me **and you,** have to help raise him." Viride said as she took the blanket from Hvitt and picked Jason up to take him to Lilla. When the two adults returned to Lilla they saw her giving them a very worried look.

"Lilla before you see Jason I must ask, was Jason's father human?" Hvitt asked gaining a heated glare from Viride.

"No," Lilla said before she elaborated, "he was a Raven faunus, now may I hold my baby boy?" she finished growing a little annoyed at the fact that her baby was being kept from her. Viride gave a small smile before she passed Jason to his waiting mother.

Lilla quickly unwrapped Jason to show his head and his upper body letting his wings unfurl in the process, and instead of giving off a shocked gasp or even a strange look Lilla went straight to mothering her little hatchling.

* * *

After insuring that both Jason and Lilla were properly accommodated and that everything had been taken care of all had fallen silent and everybody was asleep, everybody but Hvitt. Hvitt was standing but a few feet away from the bed Lilla was sleeping on and Viride had her head rested on not wanting to leave her friends side. He silently looked from Jason to Lilla then to Viride with a sad smile.

'That boy will have many trials ahead of him, just in the village he will be hated. Hopefully those two will be with him every step of the way.' he thought to himself silently before he walked away to catch up on his own sleep.

Lilla, Viride, and Hvitt spent the next five years raising Jason with only a few complications, such as the village showing up with pitchforks and torches trying to take Jason away. However Hvitt gifting Jason with a runic necklace quickly putting a stop to the village trying to purge the 'Unholy child,' after that Lilla moved in with Viride as friends so they could both raise Jason together.

* * *

It was the villages yearly spirit festival so all of these adults, minus the two teachers charged with watching all of the children, were out enjoying the festivities, well everyone except Viride, who was trying to convince Lilla to drop Jason off with the caretakers so she could enjoy the festival.

"Come on Lilla you have spent the past four years staying home with Jason, he's five now you can leave him with the caretakers." Viride said as she tried to drag Lilla towards the small closet that held her clothes.

"Viride you know that the rest of the village finds him unnerving, he may be mistreated." Lilla responded as she looked to Jason who was playing with a little hunter action figure, and while it was true that the village found Jason unnatural, he would never be mistreated purposely as the gift from Hvitt made sure of that.

"Lilla, Hvitt will be there, and you know that him being mistreated by adults is all in you head." Viride retorted with her arms crossed and her foot tapping impatiently.

"Fine I'll go out to the festival, but…" the rest of Lillas response was cut off however by Viride dragging her into the closet and helping her pick an outfit for the festival.

* * *

After Lilla and Viride had finished getting ready Lilla walked over to Jason as he played and crouched down to his level.

"Hey baby, whatcha doing?" she asked keeping a smile on her face as she looked down to the pride of her life.

"Noten Momma." he replied as he continued to play with the little plastic hunter.

"How would you like to go play with the other kids?" she asked again this time getting him to look up with surprise in his large dark brown eyes.

"Weally, I can go play with the others?" he asked in surprise.

"Yes sweety you can go play with the other kids." she replies as she picks Jason up and starts to take him to the place where the kids were to be dropped off.

"Now listen to me, be good for papa Hvitt and the other lady, and whatever you do don't try flying again ok." Lilla says as she looks to Jason's wings which were tensing and relaxing as if being flexed.

"Yes Momma." Jason says as he clutched the toy hunter to his chest. Lilla smiled down to Jason before she gave him a bone crushing hug and kissed his forehead before sending him off to the waiting caretakers.

"He'll be fine he's a smart kid." Viride said as she put her hand on Lilla's shoulders.

"I know but I'm his mom I'm worried for him I have to." Lilla responded.

"How do you think I feel?" Viride said with a coy smile before she had to run from a heavily blushing Lilla.

* * *

It had been what seemed like days to Jason since his mom had dropped him off and he was a little scared in all honesty. He looked back to the door that Papap Hvitt and the pink haired lady had lead all the kids through as if he thought his momma would run through it at any secant. That however, is not what happened, what did happen however is that three older boys walked up to Jason with mean looks on their faces.

"So you're the boy my mommie and daddy talk, they say you're a grimm in a boy's body is it true?" the middle boy asked as the others snickered. Jason how every was just confused and slightly confused as the boys drew closer looking around wildly he saw that neither papa Hvitt or the pink haired lady were around.

"I..I don't know, I don't know what a Gwimm is." Jason respond backing up slowly from the boys.

"I think it is, and do you know what we do to grimm we kill them." The older boy said darkly as he and a few other kid's came closer and started to kick Jason repeatedly. Over and over their feet slammed into Jason causing him to cry out in pain. Soon they pain stopped however and Jason looked up to the boys to see fear etched onto their faces. They slowly backed away from him before they turned around and ran as fast as their legs could carry them. Jason wondered what was causing the boys to run until he looked down at himself to see a dark purple light covering his body. Not understanding why the light had appeared, Jason let out his own horrified scream and a violent wind whirled around him picking up papers, pencils, and other such small object. With the more the wind picked up more kids began to scream causing a domino effect in which the winds around Jason started to pick up chairs. This continued for somethime until he felt a hand on his shoulder, looking up Jason saw Viride looking down at him with a kind and loving smile. Looking up at the green haired woman who was like a second mother to him, he slowly calmed down and latched onto her crying into her shoulder calling her something she never expected.

"Mummy, what happened." Once she heard this, Viride picked him up and walked him over to Lilla and Hvitt who were waiting at the door of the small classroom. By the time she reached the waiting duo Lilla pounced onto Jason looking over him for even the smallest of scratches. After making sure Jason was ok she immediately started walking home shortly followed by Viride. Once they were safely home Jason was put to bed before Lilla walked back down and slumped down onto the couch.

"You ok Lil?" Viride asked after grabbing a glass of water.

"I'm fantastic, I was continually hit on by the village jackass, Jason unleashed some crazy storm, and then you walk through the winds as if it were nothing while I, _his mother_ , was thrown back. I… I'm just really confused, tired, and want some answers." She says with an exasperated sigh.

"Well I can't really give an answer for Alex, but I can answer the other questions." Viride said with a small smirk. Lilla looked back to Viride with pleading eyes.

"Ok so here's what happened," Viride said as she plops down next to Lilla "From what I can understand Jason unlocked his aura."

"Wait then why did that weird storm kick up then?" Lilla asked cutting the green haired girl off.

"I was getting to that.." Viride said with a faux annoyance, "Most of the time when an aura unlocks it either has little effect or makes the person sick, but their are times when the unlock can be violent and that's what happened tonight. As for me being able to walk through because I also have an aura and a semblance one that allows me to control wind to a minor extent." She explains. Lila listens and absorbs the information and thinks it over before sighing in exhaustion.

"Ok then it's late so I'm going to bed, thank you Viride." The purple haired mother get up from the couch and walk towards her bedroom.

* * *

Holly shit this is nearly a year old…. It's also my longest story ever so yeah. Anyway this was originally going to be a one shot of Jason's life from before his birth to the first chapter of Sanctum Soldiers but I wanted to get something out before my Senior year. Anyway I'll leave it to the dark magus himself Habit to say anything…. Or just call me a lazy Gray Jedi.

 **DH: Well,** _ **sorry**_ **if I have written nearly a full book (50k words for those unaware) for the Phoenixverse in the time it took you to write a** _ **tenth**_ **. I'm Joking... We all have other commitments.**


End file.
